Editor-in-Chief Hatice Kübra Elçioğlu Vice Editors Levent Kabasakal Esra Tatar Online ISSN 2630-6344 Publisher Marmara University Frequency Bimonthly (Six issues / year) Abbreviation J.Res.Pharm. Former Name Marmara Pharmaceutical Journal
Journal of Research in Pharmacy 2021 , Vol 25 , Issue 6
COVID-19 and the role of e-cigarette use: An evidence-based review
İsmet ÇOK1,İrem İYİGÜNDOĞDU1,Mesut YILDIRIM1
1Deparment of Toxicology, Faculty of Pharmacy, Gazi University, Hipodrom 06330, Ankara, Turkey
2Department of Radiology, Etimesgut Şehit Sait Ertürk State Hospital, Etimesgut 06790, Ankara, Turkey
DOI : 10.29228/jrp.72 While the world is grappling with one of the biggest pandemics in history, the role that personal preferences or lifestyles can play in the development of this pandemic should not be overlooked. One of these preferences is the use of electronic cigarettes (e-cigarettes). COVID-19 is a disease that primarily attacks the lungs. Thus, factors that cause pre-existing lung disease such as e-cigarette use may increase the risk for critical complications from COVID-19. Promoted as an alternative to conventional cigarettes, e-cigarettes induce inflammation of human airways and possibly increase susceptibility toward pneumonia because of an increase of pneumococcal adherence to airway cells. Lung damage caused by flavorings contained in e-cigarettes can increase health risks, especially from COVID-19. When compared to nonsmokers, e-cigarette users had a five times increased risk while dual users with tobacco had a seven times increased risk of COVID-19 infection. Recent research supports that many medical consequences such as lung inflammation and increased susceptibility to pulmonary viral and bacterial infections in smokers and people with COVID-19 disease may also develop due to e-cigarette use. The aim of this article is to investigate whether there is a role for e-cigarette use in the development of respiratory diseases caused by the COVID-19 virus. With the help of our experience of working on e-cigarettes for many years and various scientific databases (PubMed, Scopus, etc.), the health risks experienced by people who both use e-cigarettes and have a COVID-19 virus infection, and the role of respiratory system symptoms, in particular, were investigated. Keywords : SARS-CoV-2; COVID-19; electronic cigarette; EVALI
Marmara University